- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
- Messages
- 18
- Reaction score
- 26
DAT Breakdown:
PAT 21
QR 22
RC 18
Bio 23
GC 30
OC 30
TS 26
AA 25
Background:
I'm an ESL (English as a Second Language) student from Syria. I was born and raised there until I was 19. Schooling in Syria is different where dentistry is 5 years while all college-level Sciences (in the US) being taught in the senior year of high school. At the end of the senior year, every student in the whole nation has to take the same final exams and the scores on these exams will determine what college major and which university (public colleges) you will be able to attend. The exams cover pretty much all Math (trig, calc, algebra, analytic geometry, and solid geometry), Chem (Gen Chem, O Chem), Natural science (Bio, Anatomy, physiology), Physics, English, French, Arabic, and Political Science. these exams are pretty hard because they go in depth and all questions were tricky and required you to fully understand every subject and most questions were open-ended responses. I studied for a whole year about 8 hours on average per day in 2012 (earned most of my study skills at this point) and I ended up doing great on all exams except on Arabic and Political Science for some reasons that are complicated to explain. I got 224 out of 240 possible points. Dentistry requirement in Public schools was 227 (free education) and 225 (at a free low price) (one point higher than what I got) while private schools are 170-190. After not making into a public dental school I studied Civil-Engineering at Al-Baath University for a year and a half.
I came to the U.S. about 3 years ago in 2014 and enrolled in one summer semester of English classes. In fall 2015 I attended Community College of Allegheny County and a year after I transferred to University of Pittsburgh.
DAT Pre-Preparations:
I signed up for the exam after I finished a tough semester at Pitt. and I had 4 months to study for it. However, I only started actual studying 9 weeks prior to my exam. after I signed up for the DAT, I looked at as many Breakdowns as possible, and I realized a pattern that many people were able to get very high scores on Gen Chem, O Chem, and QR. It seemed that the DAT won't ask random questions on these sections and it's very likely that someone might secure a very high score by only getting one 30 on a subtest. since the difference between 25 and 30 is probably one question but the difference will be an entire point toward the AA. From there, I started to prioritize these sections (I even posted on the Facebook DAT study group "about a month ago" that I was going to not spend much time on Taxonomy and Plants and will invest that time in mastering Chem, Ochem, and QR).
I thought this strategy was a risk-free method toward a potential high AA because "in worst cases" I will end up getting a 22+ on these three subtests and potentially 20 on the other three. Before I started studying, I took the 2007 version untimed and learned an idea about how questions are asked on the exam and what things I need to focus on.
Bio (23):
First round: I started reading Cliff's 4th edition (I didn't know that the 3rd edition was the better version) and I was looking out for possible differences between the 4th and the 3rd (got the online free version). I was also writing down some important info and marking new vocab. I took two BC exams after I finished the first round.
Second round: I read Barron's AP biology which I think is more understandable than cliff's I also used Kaplan DAT Book for anatomy and physiology. both books have more images and they use simple language. While going over Barron, I looked at Ferali's notes. I then did about 550 destroyer question in the last 2 weeks of my study period.
I then took the rest of BC exams.
Exam: I ended up getting about 30 broad easier questions on the DAT and 10 very specific questions. 4 of these questions were very specific anatomy and physiology (one disease, one on muscular system, and 2 about embryology) which were not covered on Ferali's and I got all them wrong. (that's not because Feral's notes are lacking but just to confirm the general idea that they can ask you about anything in Bio). I had about 18 minutes on the exam left and I used about 15 of them to go over Bio.
BC (Bootcamp) Scores:
25/19/22/21/22/20/22/23/20/19
General Chem (30) and Organic Chem (30):
first round: I watched the free version of Chad's videos and took notes as I was taking notes in an actual class. I also went over my notes from college classes and took all practice and actual exams from these classes. I took around 3 or 4 BC exams (each sub-test) at this time and I started DAT Destroyer 20 questions a day. I finished Ochem and nearly finished Gen Chem from Destroyer.
Second round: I watched Dr. Mike's videos on 1.25x or 1.5x while taking notes and reviewing my old notes from Chad's. I also took all Mike's practice tests. And took note of questions that I was getting wrong. I bought sticky notes and wrote down every question I get wrong on them and I stuck them on the wall in front of my desk. I looked at them all the time to make sure I don't forget them.
Exam: Both exams were fairly reasonable, about 25 easy questions and about 5 very tricky questions. I marked one Gen Chem question and Two O Chem. and went over them at the end.
BC Scores:
GC: 30/26/26/25/21/20/20/21/22/24
OC: 30/24/22/24/21/20/21/21/26/21
PAT (21):
I was an engineering student and I had to take some 3D drawing and other similar classes to the PAT section (about 4 years ago).
Thus, I didn't do anything different than anyone else on here. I got 66 correct questions (first time without studying) on the 2007 DAT. So, I thought it would be a good idea to invest my time somewhere else. I watched Joel videos. I did the BC generator about 3 times (half of an hour) a week for about a month until I started doing BC exams. I think it would be a better idea to ignore the generator and just take all BC PAT exams since I didn't end up finishing them and they are way better than the generator.
Exam: I thought the exam was similar to BC but I realized that Angle Ranking had about 7 super easy questions and 8 super hard questions. hole punching was easy except for two questions. TEF was harder than BC. everything else is similar to BC. I had 4 rock questions.
BC Scores:
22/20/20/21/x/19/20/x/x/x
RC (18):
I don't think I have much to say about this section. I knew that this was my weakest section but I also knew that all I needed is a 17 to avoid any cutoffs. I didn't pay attention to it until the last 3 weeks. I started off with Gold Standard (RC and QR book), I read all their strategies and took some exams from their book. Averaged 11-12 correct answers on each passage. I took the free Kaplan test and I got a 15. I tried to take 3 BC exams but I couldn't finish them and ended up getting below 15 (was trying S&D method). I messaged @juustinkim (got 23 on RC just about a month ago and posted a breakdown here) and he suggested to read 10 paragraphs in 5 mins and then use S&D. However, I couldn't do that and only did 7 paragraphs in 5 mins. I later took 4 BC exams and Got two 17s and two 19s.
Exam: I agree with everybody else that RC is easier than BC. However, I got lost in the last passage and didn't want to finish reading the last few paragraphs.
BC Scores:
17/<15/19/19/<15/x/x/x/17/<15
QR (22):
As I mentioned before I was aiming to get a higher score on this section. However, I didn't have much time for this section, so I did DAT destroyer 153 questions and took 8 BC exams. I'm generally good at math, so I didn't pay enough attention.
Exam: The actual exam was similar to BC (with more quantity of easier questions) but I had about 6 questions that were worded very differently than BC. I finished with about 5 mins to go and review these questions.
BC scores:
30/19/20/19/x/17/19/24/19/x
Note:
I didn't take BC exams in order. Generally started from 6 to 10 and then from 5 to 1.
General Advice:
Don't get imitated by other exam takers who tells you that they were getting 25+ on all BC sections but they ended up getting a very low score on the real thing claiming that their version of the DAT was tough (and they weren't "lucky"). The DAT grading Scale is adjusted to give everybody a fair assessment, you are graded based on how other people did on the same exam. So, if everyone else did good on that version of the exam you will get a lower score but if you did better than everyone else, you will get a very high score. "Luck" can play a role once you hit a score that is above ~22 (Usually, once you hit ~22, the scale will give you ~3 points for each extra correct answer) but for everything below ~22 "Luck" shouldn't be the case. So it's highly possible to get 21-22 even if you weren't "lucky".
I just wanted to clarify this point because I kinda had a difficult time understanding the grading system of the exam. My reasoning might not be accurate but that's what I thought about this exam.
You should always think that "if someone did it before, then that means you as well can do it yourself" that's my one phrase that I always use when I'm in serious situations.
Thanks to everybody who helped in any possible way, including DAT Bootcamp (Ari, Mike, and Joel), SDN, Dr. Jim Romano, Chad, Ferali, Cliff's, Barron's, Kaplan, Gold Standards, all my College professors, all Family members, Friends, all Pre-Dental Student on the DAT Facebook group who help me by their posts and comments.
PAT 21
QR 22
RC 18
Bio 23
GC 30
OC 30
TS 26
AA 25
Background:
I'm an ESL (English as a Second Language) student from Syria. I was born and raised there until I was 19. Schooling in Syria is different where dentistry is 5 years while all college-level Sciences (in the US) being taught in the senior year of high school. At the end of the senior year, every student in the whole nation has to take the same final exams and the scores on these exams will determine what college major and which university (public colleges) you will be able to attend. The exams cover pretty much all Math (trig, calc, algebra, analytic geometry, and solid geometry), Chem (Gen Chem, O Chem), Natural science (Bio, Anatomy, physiology), Physics, English, French, Arabic, and Political Science. these exams are pretty hard because they go in depth and all questions were tricky and required you to fully understand every subject and most questions were open-ended responses. I studied for a whole year about 8 hours on average per day in 2012 (earned most of my study skills at this point) and I ended up doing great on all exams except on Arabic and Political Science for some reasons that are complicated to explain. I got 224 out of 240 possible points. Dentistry requirement in Public schools was 227 (free education) and 225 (at a free low price) (one point higher than what I got) while private schools are 170-190. After not making into a public dental school I studied Civil-Engineering at Al-Baath University for a year and a half.
I came to the U.S. about 3 years ago in 2014 and enrolled in one summer semester of English classes. In fall 2015 I attended Community College of Allegheny County and a year after I transferred to University of Pittsburgh.
DAT Pre-Preparations:
I signed up for the exam after I finished a tough semester at Pitt. and I had 4 months to study for it. However, I only started actual studying 9 weeks prior to my exam. after I signed up for the DAT, I looked at as many Breakdowns as possible, and I realized a pattern that many people were able to get very high scores on Gen Chem, O Chem, and QR. It seemed that the DAT won't ask random questions on these sections and it's very likely that someone might secure a very high score by only getting one 30 on a subtest. since the difference between 25 and 30 is probably one question but the difference will be an entire point toward the AA. From there, I started to prioritize these sections (I even posted on the Facebook DAT study group "about a month ago" that I was going to not spend much time on Taxonomy and Plants and will invest that time in mastering Chem, Ochem, and QR).
I thought this strategy was a risk-free method toward a potential high AA because "in worst cases" I will end up getting a 22+ on these three subtests and potentially 20 on the other three. Before I started studying, I took the 2007 version untimed and learned an idea about how questions are asked on the exam and what things I need to focus on.
Bio (23):
First round: I started reading Cliff's 4th edition (I didn't know that the 3rd edition was the better version) and I was looking out for possible differences between the 4th and the 3rd (got the online free version). I was also writing down some important info and marking new vocab. I took two BC exams after I finished the first round.
Second round: I read Barron's AP biology which I think is more understandable than cliff's I also used Kaplan DAT Book for anatomy and physiology. both books have more images and they use simple language. While going over Barron, I looked at Ferali's notes. I then did about 550 destroyer question in the last 2 weeks of my study period.
I then took the rest of BC exams.
Exam: I ended up getting about 30 broad easier questions on the DAT and 10 very specific questions. 4 of these questions were very specific anatomy and physiology (one disease, one on muscular system, and 2 about embryology) which were not covered on Ferali's and I got all them wrong. (that's not because Feral's notes are lacking but just to confirm the general idea that they can ask you about anything in Bio). I had about 18 minutes on the exam left and I used about 15 of them to go over Bio.
BC (Bootcamp) Scores:
25/19/22/21/22/20/22/23/20/19
General Chem (30) and Organic Chem (30):
first round: I watched the free version of Chad's videos and took notes as I was taking notes in an actual class. I also went over my notes from college classes and took all practice and actual exams from these classes. I took around 3 or 4 BC exams (each sub-test) at this time and I started DAT Destroyer 20 questions a day. I finished Ochem and nearly finished Gen Chem from Destroyer.
Second round: I watched Dr. Mike's videos on 1.25x or 1.5x while taking notes and reviewing my old notes from Chad's. I also took all Mike's practice tests. And took note of questions that I was getting wrong. I bought sticky notes and wrote down every question I get wrong on them and I stuck them on the wall in front of my desk. I looked at them all the time to make sure I don't forget them.
Exam: Both exams were fairly reasonable, about 25 easy questions and about 5 very tricky questions. I marked one Gen Chem question and Two O Chem. and went over them at the end.
BC Scores:
GC: 30/26/26/25/21/20/20/21/22/24
OC: 30/24/22/24/21/20/21/21/26/21
PAT (21):
I was an engineering student and I had to take some 3D drawing and other similar classes to the PAT section (about 4 years ago).
Thus, I didn't do anything different than anyone else on here. I got 66 correct questions (first time without studying) on the 2007 DAT. So, I thought it would be a good idea to invest my time somewhere else. I watched Joel videos. I did the BC generator about 3 times (half of an hour) a week for about a month until I started doing BC exams. I think it would be a better idea to ignore the generator and just take all BC PAT exams since I didn't end up finishing them and they are way better than the generator.
Exam: I thought the exam was similar to BC but I realized that Angle Ranking had about 7 super easy questions and 8 super hard questions. hole punching was easy except for two questions. TEF was harder than BC. everything else is similar to BC. I had 4 rock questions.
BC Scores:
22/20/20/21/x/19/20/x/x/x
RC (18):
I don't think I have much to say about this section. I knew that this was my weakest section but I also knew that all I needed is a 17 to avoid any cutoffs. I didn't pay attention to it until the last 3 weeks. I started off with Gold Standard (RC and QR book), I read all their strategies and took some exams from their book. Averaged 11-12 correct answers on each passage. I took the free Kaplan test and I got a 15. I tried to take 3 BC exams but I couldn't finish them and ended up getting below 15 (was trying S&D method). I messaged @juustinkim (got 23 on RC just about a month ago and posted a breakdown here) and he suggested to read 10 paragraphs in 5 mins and then use S&D. However, I couldn't do that and only did 7 paragraphs in 5 mins. I later took 4 BC exams and Got two 17s and two 19s.
Exam: I agree with everybody else that RC is easier than BC. However, I got lost in the last passage and didn't want to finish reading the last few paragraphs.
BC Scores:
17/<15/19/19/<15/x/x/x/17/<15
QR (22):
As I mentioned before I was aiming to get a higher score on this section. However, I didn't have much time for this section, so I did DAT destroyer 153 questions and took 8 BC exams. I'm generally good at math, so I didn't pay enough attention.
Exam: The actual exam was similar to BC (with more quantity of easier questions) but I had about 6 questions that were worded very differently than BC. I finished with about 5 mins to go and review these questions.
BC scores:
30/19/20/19/x/17/19/24/19/x
Note:
I didn't take BC exams in order. Generally started from 6 to 10 and then from 5 to 1.
General Advice:
Don't get imitated by other exam takers who tells you that they were getting 25+ on all BC sections but they ended up getting a very low score on the real thing claiming that their version of the DAT was tough (and they weren't "lucky"). The DAT grading Scale is adjusted to give everybody a fair assessment, you are graded based on how other people did on the same exam. So, if everyone else did good on that version of the exam you will get a lower score but if you did better than everyone else, you will get a very high score. "Luck" can play a role once you hit a score that is above ~22 (Usually, once you hit ~22, the scale will give you ~3 points for each extra correct answer) but for everything below ~22 "Luck" shouldn't be the case. So it's highly possible to get 21-22 even if you weren't "lucky".
I just wanted to clarify this point because I kinda had a difficult time understanding the grading system of the exam. My reasoning might not be accurate but that's what I thought about this exam.
You should always think that "if someone did it before, then that means you as well can do it yourself" that's my one phrase that I always use when I'm in serious situations.
Thanks to everybody who helped in any possible way, including DAT Bootcamp (Ari, Mike, and Joel), SDN, Dr. Jim Romano, Chad, Ferali, Cliff's, Barron's, Kaplan, Gold Standards, all my College professors, all Family members, Friends, all Pre-Dental Student on the DAT Facebook group who help me by their posts and comments.
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What were your strategies?
